


Of Thunder and Cuddling

by TheShippingGhost



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cuddling, Fluff, M/M, Oneshot, Storms, comforting eren, cuddly babies, cuties being cuties, how does one tag this anyway, probably, scared levi, super fluff, thunder buddies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-02-09 03:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1967967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShippingGhost/pseuds/TheShippingGhost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi felt stupid for being so frightened of something so mundane, but it wasn't like he could just not be scared of thunder. This is where his subordinate comes in and finds him in such a state.<br/>Cuddling ensues, obviously.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DarkDemon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkDemon/gifts).



The underground was a horrible place. Everybody knows this. From thieving to gangs to murder, nobody was safe there because it was missing something important. The lack of order in the underground city is why Levi didn’t like living there. Order and cleanliness worked together hand in hand. But, even though the place was terrifying, there was also a couple of things he missed. One of which being the lack of weather.

Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t hate all weather. Just some. For example, he loved the sun. He would sit in the sun for hours on end and just let himself radiate from its warmth if he didn’t burn so easy. He loved the feel of the sun on his body. Especially on a sunny, spring day when it wasn’t too hot or too cold, just nice. It made him feel safe.

What he didn’t like was rain. It was annoying. It made mud, got everyone wet, and could mess him up do to lack of sight. He loved to be clean, but he hated the feeling of wet clothes against his skin. It was icky and when he tried to take them off, they’d literally peel off and slosh to the ground. It felt, sounded, and looked disgusting.

And with rain, came a whole new threat entirely.

And as stupid as he felt every time there was some of it, he couldn’t help but hold a fear of something he never had to deal with in his hometown.

This, of course, was thunder.

During the first storm he had to deal with above ground, he almost found himself crying in utter fear.Sharp flashes, loud booms. He couldn’t tell what the hell was truly happening, but he got the gist that it wasn’t something adults were normally scared of and tried to shake it off. He never could, though.

From then on, when he felt storms coming, he would try to find himself alone, whether it be in his room, hiding under trees(which was a terrible idea, to be honest), or staying in the stables in the stall of his favorite horse. He just had to be alone in case he jumped or squeaked or something else stupid that would ruin his cool demeanor forever.

But sometimes he wasn’t alone.

There were times he didn’t realize the rain would bring thunder that day or that he didn’t know there would be rain and he’d be stuck in a group of people. The entire time he’d make sure to drink the blackest of black coffee, which somehow would calm his jittering nerves, and try to ignore the loud booming sounds that came from the outside world.

Today’s storm, was just another regular spring shower, but mixed with the sour taste of extra lightning, which meant lots of thunder. He excused himself from everyone else long before the storm and told them all that he’d be sleeping, so don’t disturb him. He actually tried to sleep. He definitely tried, but, sadly, he could barely keep his eyes closed.

At first, all he heard was the rain. It started as light pitter pattering on the roof above his room then turned to loud, heavy pounding that kept him awake until the true storm came.

The flash of lightning was his first warning.

When there was quick burst of white light from outside, Levi was curling into himself on his bed. He was sitting up against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees and his head burrowed. The roll of thunder came almost ten seconds later. It wasn’t the worse the storm had to offer, he knew this, but he was shivering by the time it was done with it’s roaring.

During the time he had before the next flash, he somehow ended up under his blanket, curled into a shivering ball. He felt pitifully stupid and hated himself for this weakness, but that didn’t stop him from jumping when the next set of growling booms came for a visit.

This went on for what felt like forever, but was actually just twenty minutes. The intervals between the lightning and the thunder getting smaller and smaller as the eye of the storm came closer. The latest set of thunder blocked out the sound of his door opening.

 

***

 

Eren wasn’t really one for storms anymore. After his mother passed, they weren’t things that consisted of hot tea and warm cuddling(he wasn’t about to cuddle with Armin). They didn’t really bother him, there was just nothing for him to do during because he’d usually go outside for fresh air when he was bored.

He was a little concerned right now, though, since he had heard that the captain actually went to bed this early. Somewhere deep in his gut, he felt that Captain Levi wasn’t actually sleeping.

He’d originally was going to ask him if he’d like to come downstairs and have some coffee or something(since Eren now knew the exact brew Levi drank), but now that he was standing at the door to the room of the terrifying, little man, he was starting to have second thoughts.

If I knock and he’s asleep, he might kill me for waking him up, was one thought that was running through his head. The other completely didn’t help his first problem. But if I just walk in and he’s awake he might kill me for not knocking.

Both of these thoughts were very concerning. Though he guessed that there was no one awake, due to lack of candlelight coming from under the door. Levi wasn’t one to sit in the dark. The thought that his captain might actually be sleeping made him want to turn on his heel and leave.

He absently noticed a flash of lightning during his troubles.

His decision was the dangerous route. He was going in to see if he was truly sleeping. This trek may cost him his life, but it had to be worth it somehow. There was a sound of thunder from above as he opened the door. When he walked in, he found that the room looked empty.

Nobody was sitting at the desk, there was no one off to the windowed side of the room, and there was only a ball of blankets on the bed. All of the signs pointed to Levi not being there. He was about to turn and leave when he paused.

Since when did Levi not make his bed?

His eyes slid back over to the pile of blankets and with a closer look he saw that they were moving. Shaking actually. This made him get an idea of what was happening. He softly pushed the door closed and it made a click to inform him it was shut. He silently noticed that the ball’s movement stopped at the sound, but there was no shuffling of someone trying to get up.

Eren took very cautious steps over to the bed because he was playing with fire here. Of course the fire was scared to death of rain, but that might just make him more likely to bite in this situation. When he got to the blanket, he grabbed it’s top and gently pulled it back. It revealed the curled up Levi.

A flash of lightning lit the room for a split second.

His head moved, his body uncurled, and he looked up at Eren with eyes that were probably supposed to be glaring like usual but they had been softened by the fear that shone everywhere else. Eren just wanted to hug him and tell him its okay. So that’s what he was going to do.

When he first started to climb onto the bed, his captain looked confused, but when he seemed to get what Eren was doing, his glare hardened. The teen laid down in front of him, not even under the blankets, and his arms moved to wrap themselves around Levi, who wasn’t having any of that.

His hands flew up to Eren’s chest in an attempt to push the brat away. Just then a loud, thundering boom came from above. It was so powerful that the room vibrated in its wake. His hands, instead of pushing, curled into the fabric of the boy’s shirt and pulled him closer.

Eren happily let him do so and held the shaking man until the roll of thunder faded into the night. He thought that Levi would again try to push him away while the loud noise was dormant, but instead, the man kept his fingers tangled in the shirt and kept his body close to Eren’s.

The blanket was barely over Levi now, since he was originally cuddling it while he was in a ball, so Eren moved to pull it over the both of them, to muffle the booms. He could feel Levi resisting the idea before he had even grabbed the blanket, but after he pulled it over them, he returned his arms to their original places and one of his hands began to run through Levi’s raven hair.

When the next set of thunder came, Eren tightened his hold around his captain and mumbled, “It’s okay, you’re okay,” into his hair just like his mom did to him when he was just a kid. The man in his arms was tense, but had stopped shaking like a chihuahua.

Eren’s other hand, while his arm was, almost uncomfortably, trapped under the tiny mass that was Levi, was tracing circles into the back of Levi’s sleep shirt. The repetitive motion calmed them both and the slowly lengthening down time between the thunder crashes began to consist of relaxed muscles and soft breathing. There was no way to soften the fear any further than that, so Eren just held his captain through everything.

By the time the storm began to clear out and the thunder started to become low rumbles, Eren’s arm was utterly asleep and tingling in the most annoying way. He ignored it for the reason that Levi was practically asleep now and he felt disturbing him would be rude.

Soon, the only noise in the room was the drumming of rain on the roof. By then, Eren was convinced that Levi was sleeping now. He thought about how this would be the best chance to leave if he didn’t want his ass kicked in the morning. The thought only lasted a second though, because he immediately decided he didn’t want to leave. For more than one reason.

Levi, on the other hand, was definitely not sleeping and was, instead, contemplating kicking Eren out after kicking his ass for not asking permission to do what he did(touching Levi was a huge no no so why did the brat think it was okay to just cuddle?), but also considered that the storm was not as bad as he thought it was going to be because of the kid. If anything, Eren deserved his appreciation.

He laid still, silent, for a few minutes. He kept his eyes closed to keep the illusion that he was sleeping. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was doing this. Maybe it was so he wouldn’t have to say thanks or maybe it was because he didn’t want to deal with the fact that he did like being held like he was.

It took him a minute, but he did find his voice. “You’re such a brat,” were the first words he said. Eren tensed. He paused a moment before continuing in a soft voice, “Thanks.”

Eren expected his superior to pull away, but instead the older man kept his body as close as possible. It made Eren both confused and happy all at once. He could suddenly hear his heart thudding in his chest(had it always been beating this hard?) and he silently hoped Levi couldn’t hear it, too. “Sorry for not asking,” he said after a moments thought.

Levi didn’t respond. He stayed quiet and thought about how close Eren was. He found he didn’t mind the kid as much as he previously thought. Anyone else would’ve teased him for his fear of thunder, but Eren was being... well nice about it.

“Breathe a word of this to anyone and I’ll kill you,” Levi threatened. The words weren’t too venomous, though. It was like he was asking instead of threatening.

“Yes, sir,” was Eren’s promising reply. It was quick, quiet, but sounded honest, so Levi let him be. He didn’t question why there was still fingers running through his hair or why they were still pressed up together even though the heaviest of the storm had long since passed.

It went quiet again. This time the both of them were thinking about how much they didn’t want to leave. Neither spoke this thought, but they both could feel it radiating from each other. So they didn't move, and soon enough, each party began to fade into sleep. Eren was the first to go out. Levi could tell because the hand in hair went slack. He was almost surprised when he realized he was smiling because of it.

Levi then shifted to somehow get closer to the boy and let himself fall asleep, too.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The morning after was decidedly not as awkward as it should’ve been. Eren was the first to wake up and found that he had somehow ended up on his back with a not-so-heavy Levi laying on his chest. He didn’t want to  move so he wouldn’t wake the man, so instead he just looked at the outline of Levi face in the soft rays of sun that crept through the cracks in the window.

He was breathtakingly beautiful. Eren couldn’t see his whole face because of the angle, but he could see his nose and his mouth and his jawline, all colored a soft pale. He looked relaxed. It was the first time Eren had seen him without a scowl. A smile tugs at his lips, getting larger every time he thought about the situation he’s in.

He doesn’t know how long the time it took for Levi to wake up was, but he felt like it was pushing past half an hour when the small body began to shift in his arms. Soon there was a pair of smoky gray eyes looking up at him. He could tell Levi was trying to look grumpy, but ended up looking like a pouty puppy.

“Good morning, Captain,” Eren said softly and earned a heated glare in response that looked about as threatening as kitten.

“Shut up, Jaeger.”

Eren was already fully aware that Levi wasn’t a morning person so the grumpy words only made him giggle, which made the glare harden. “Do you wanna go get some coffee, sir?” Since Levi always seemed slightly easier to deal with after a steaming cup of black sludge in the morning.

“No,” the older man pouted at him before laying his head back on Eren’s chest.He wanted to stay right where he was obviously. He liked this cuddling. But, sadly, the sun was out now and if they were to stay in bed, someone would end up finding the two of them. That someone would probably be Hange and they were terrible with secrets. “But we should go anyway.”

The boy nodded and began to sit up, only to be pushed right back down by an unhappy Levi. “In a few minutes,” was what he added as he readjusted himself so he could lay on the boy comfortably.

Eren’s stomach turned to butterflies and a soft smile spread on his face. The room was quiet now, but not an awkward quiet. They both laid in each other’s presence and at some point they lost track of time. It wasn’t until almost a whole hour later that Levi reluctantly began to shift away. He only blinked at the childish disappointment on Eren’s face.

He then, as he sat back on the bed so he was sitting up and looking down upon the boy, felt a sudden want to thank Eren again for what he had done. He quickly erased this thought in disgust with himself. One thank you was sappy enough for him. But, as he looked down, he also felt himself admiring how great Eren looked first thing in the morning light. Ruffled hair, rumpled clothes, and a sleepy smile.

Eren, on the other hand, was staring up a Levi’s face with that soft smile. The man was apparently an adorable grumpy when he first woke up and that was honestly the best thing ever. He just wanted to kiss the pouty lips and- no, what was he thinking? Cuddling was way different than kissing. Levi probably wouldn’t want that.

“You’re an idiot.”

The words dragged Eren’s thoughts away and replaced them with confusion. “What? Why?”

Levi shrugged half heartedly. “You just are,” he said simply. Then he began to climb over Eren to get off the bed. His leg, which was tangled in the blanket still, made him almost, not-so-gracefully fall. What was with him today? He would have landed hard on the floor had Eren not quickly sat up to steady him. Goddammit, Levi was gonna owe him a lot of favors by the end of this.

“You okay?” Eren asked quickly, half worried, half amused. His hands were still on Levi, burning holes where they sat on his waist and his arm. Levi could feel his heart racing in his chest, but in a good way. Oh God, it was like he was a teenage girl with a crush.

Levi immediately pulled away from the touch. The warm sensation lessened, but still was lingering softly. Now standing, Levi began to fix his sleep stirred night clothes in the most OCD way possible. He then looked back at the boy, “I need to get dressed, brat.”

Eren’s big, golden eyes looked at him blankly for a mere second before they filled with realization. “Oh.” He quickly began to scramble out of the bed, almost taking the Levi route and tripping clumsily over himself. It took only seconds for him to hobble to the door. His hand reached out and touched the knob. but he stopped there.

He turned back towards his superior once more and looked him over. It wasn’t a “I’m checking him out,” look, it was one of last glance worry. He was very surprised to see his Captain so terrified the night before and now he was concerned for the guy’s well being. He didn’t seem to realize that Levi had done this before.

“What’re you looking at?” Levi asked with an itch of annoyance in his voice.

Eren realized he had been staring and immediately glanced away. “Sorry..." He then gave Levi another up and down look. "...but are you sure you’re okay?” Memories of Levi shaking in fear flashed through his mind. He had never seen his Captain lose his cool and to see that... well it was a tad scary.

“I’m fine.” His voice said that he was serious. He didn’t want some brat worrying over him as if he were some wimpy kid who got a little scared. That’s what he had been trying to avoid since he first realized that his fear of storms was not one that adults dealt with. His gray eyes formed a glare. “Leave.”

The boy bit his lip and looked like he wanted to say something, but he followed his orders and left the room, slowly closing the door behind him. Out of his lips came a sigh of disappointment. He probably made Levi mad at him for not leaving sooner. Why the hell did he ask that?

He left the door and headed to his own room near the downstairs dungeon. It was his own personal room he had gotten for being good. It was then he realized that he was in the same clothes that he was wearing the day before. They were crinkled and now looked slept in(they were). He changed into a new outfit that looked exactly the same as the last, just cleaner and more suitable for the outside world.

He had just pulled on his military issued jacket when he finally realized what had really happened before. He had seen Levi at his worse. Levi never let anyone see him like that. Would that change how Levi treated him? Would his attitude become better or worse? Eren shuddered at the idea of his captain’s wrath getting worse.

In a better thought, he realized how nicely it could end if Levi decided to go the opposite direction and treat him better. He didn’t seem to dislike what happened but he also wasn’t so particularly fond of it either near the end there. Eren was confused on what to think. Was Levi mad? Was he just frustrated?

Eren sighs.

There’s a knock at his door... Levi, perhaps? Maybe he stopped by to kick his ass? Or maybe he wanted to talk or something. The former seemed more likely to the teen’s panic stricken brain. With this thought, Eren was immediately hesitant to answer it. He stood there a moment, holding his breath and trying to decide whether dying now or later would be a better option.

He would have chose later, but curiosity easily bested his child-like, and very action controlled, mind and he opened the door. A blonde haired boy with big blue eyes stood behind it. A sigh of relief fell from his lips. It was only Armin.

Armin explained he had been looking for Eren the night before and was concerned that he was nowhere to be found when he was needed. This was shrugged off by the brunette and he only said, “I got sidetracked and ended up sleeping somewhere else.” It wasn’t too vague, but if one were suspicious, they’d think he slept in a bed with another person after he stayed in their room. That’s what happened, of course, but no one needed to know that.

They both continued to talk as Armin told him of what happened while he was missing the night before. He was told a fabulous story about how Armin found out there was baby birds in some nest near his dorm and how he had saved them from the storm. It was a very “Armin” deed and was very nice. Also, the story distracted Eren from the fact he was supposed to be going to breakfast, but his stomach decided to remind him with a loud growl.

The two went to breakfast. Breakfast was the same as always...

Levi was the same as always, as if nothing happened the night before. He was sitting at the breakfast table, drinking coffee, and obviously tolerating Hange’s rambling about something to do with titans. Eren didn’t know he was staring until gray eyes met his golden ones. He half expected some sort of response. Maybe eyes lighting up, or a glare? But no. Levi’s eyes met his for a moment then immediately turned away, as if they hadn’t.

There was a hurt pang in his chest and he tried not to show it by turning towards Armin and actually paying attention to what he was saying. After Mikasa showed up, the breakfast became so normal that the night before felt unreal. Maybe he’d only been dreaming?

No, it was certainly reality, but the way Levi ignored him made him feel unimportant. As if Levi didn’t like what had happened and regretted it. Maybe the Captain didn’t like him at all and what happened was him just tolerating Eren because he needed someone to cling to. The thought made Eren feel nauseous and used.

These thoughts dragged on through breakfast and it made him unable to eat. About halfway through, he stood from the table and excused himself, leaving quickly so no one could question him. He spent the rest of the morning training until he couldn’t think straight. It was a bad idea since led to his muscles aching and today was his day for stable clean up.

He knew he couldn’t get out of it, so he went. It was nice to see his usual horse and such, but it was tiring just to clean out that single stall. There was only about twelve stalls in this barn(the other horses were in different barns and they’d be cleaned by other kids) so there wasn’t too much to do. Might as well get started.

When he was on the fourth stall, he heard someone come into the stables. He glanced out and was shocked to see Levi standing there. He wasn’t looking at Eren, he probably didn’t even know he was in there, he was looking into a stall that Eren hadn’t gotten to yet.

Eren ducked back into the tiny space, being sure to hide behind the wall. The white and black horse in the stall with him whinnied at his sudden anxiety, as though it could feel it. He put his finger to his lips and shushed it. He got a snort in return.

There was a few shuffling footsteps and the horse whinnied again, this time at something outside the stall. Eren sucked in a breath before looking towards the gate. Facing him was his captains cold stare. “What are you doing?”

Eren gulped and his grip on his broom tightened. “I-I’m cleaning, sir. I’m on stable duty.”

“It looks like you’re hiding.” Levi looked unimpressed and a maybe a little ticked off. His glare was a lot more intimidating when they both were fully awake, to be honest, and Eren was hoping his knees weren’t actually shaking. “Why?”

“I w-wasn’t,’ Eren lied. “I’m cleaning the inside of the stall because that’s how you clean stables.” He hadn’t had the time to figure out an excuse and he certainly wasn’t an expert at improvising.

For a split second, an unknown emotion flashed across Levi’s face. Was that maybe... hurt? No. Not possible. “Hm,” he didn’t seem to be too happy with the answer he was given. Bullshit wasn’t on his list of favorite things to deal with. “You’re terrible at cleaning. There are still dirty stalls in here.”

“I’m not finished yet,” Eren pointed out. Great, now he really sounded like he was sassing him. The captain was going to kill him.

“Then you’re slow,” was Levi’s response. Then his expression actually softened, but only by a bit. Quite a bit if you considered that it was Levi. “And you’re a little shit. Where have you been all day? I’ve been looking for you.”

This made the brunette confused and sincerely concerned. “I.. was training...?” He paused before asking, “Why were you looking for me?”

Maybe it was the bad lighting in the barn, or maybe it was just because he was crazy, but Eren could’ve sworn he saw some pink coloring those pales cheeks he wanted to kiss. “I’m not sure myself.” Levi attempted to avert his eyes, but failed. Their gazes stayed locked and both fell into a soft silence. Both were blushing like idiots and neither seemed to want to speak first.

The oreo speckled horse in the stall decided he’d take initiative in this situation. He whinnied loudly, the swung its head to shove Eren closer to the stall door, right where Levi stood. The broom fell from the boy’s grip and clunked against the wood. The two of them were practically face to face now with only a door separating them.

Eren would never be sure what caused him to lean in. Maybe it was Levi’s cute blush, or possibly it was the horse’s persistence that the two of them be together. Either way he found himself swooping down and placing a kiss right on his captains fairly soft, but also strong lips. Much to his surprise, Levi didn’t pull away or try to shove him away.

With the height of the stall being an obstacle, Levi had realized as the brat leaned down that he’d have to meet him halfway, which he gladly did. The kiss was timid, but nonetheless sweet. It was obvious this had been a first for the younger of the two. This made Levi’s heart swell in a way he’d never admit aloud.

It only lasted a second, but when they pulled away, they stared at one another for what felt like hours. Their interruption was the horse again. This time, whinnying in frustration that the two were still disturbing his stall. Eren laughed aloud whilst Levi let his lips form into a smile. Not because of the horse, no, but because the kid’s laugh was adorable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished this. Hope you enjoyed <3

**Author's Note:**

> By saying "probably a oneshot" I mean I'd probably continue this if I knew some people liked it.  
> I got the idea for this when it was storming and me and my friend were talking about how Levi could be scared of thunder because he never had to deal with them downstairs.


End file.
